Rotating disk game device



oet 8, 1957 A. G. NAcKERs 2,809,041

ROTATING DISK GAME DEVICE Filed June 25A, 195e is Arrone-r United States'Patent() ROTATING DISK GAME DEVICE Albert G. Nackers, Rochester, N. Y.

Application June 25, 1956, Serial No. 593,651

` 1 claim. (ci. 27s- 143) This invention relates to a game device, of the general type employing a spinner, and has for its purpose to afford a simple, practical, eflicient, and economical construction adapted for use in any game, toy or other construction wher'e'it is desirable to use a spinner, or spinning dial or indicator.

Various structures have been proposed for this purpose, including devices in which a spring cooperates with the indicator or spinning element to impart a braking action to its movement, but such structures as have been proposed heretofore have various objections in that they are too costly to manufacture, or do not impart suflicient freedom of movement to the spinning element, and it is a particular purpose of the invention to afford a spinning dial with a novel and simple form of spring cooperating therewith, all of which can be manufactured at a low cost and provides the necessary control and spinning action of the indicator.

A more particular purpose of the invention is to provide a spinning element and controlling spring of such character that spinning motion can be imparted to the indicator in either direction manually and in which the spinning element has a smoothly running movement in either direction, while the controlling spring is delicately balanced and always maintains the same relation to the spinning element so as to insure stopping the spinner with an extremely light braking action that is nevertheless suficiently positive to retain the spinner at the point where stopping takes place.

The invention contemplates utilizing a spinner including a plate or disc with a series of circularly arranged openings which are engaged by the controlling spring, and a further purpose of the invention is to so construct and mount the spring that its effective portion successively engages all of the openings in the spinner in precisely the same relative position at the center of each opening, and in a manner that reduces the area of contact between the spring and the spinner to a minimum and thus decreases friction between these parts.

An additional object of the invention is to afford a spring so shaped and positioned as to impose very slight pressure on the spinner, permitting the latter to rotate for a considerable period under a minimum resistance of braking action from the spring, which holds the spinner upon stopping, until manipulated again.

Still an additional purpose of the invention is to construct and mount the spinner in such a Way as to allow maximum freedom of movement when turning, and to impart a relative fast action to the spinner.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts that will appear clearly from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the novel features being pointed out in the claim following the specication.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view of a game device including a fw Y l,

2 spinner constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, showing in general the position of the controlling spring;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail sectional view on line 4 4 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the spring, secured in its anchor blocks.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the several views, there is provided a housing including a bottom wall 1, side walls 2, and a top wall 3, which latter may be of glass, transparent plastic, or other material suitable for the purpose and through which the spinner may be observed.

The spinner consists of top and bottom circular plates 4 and 5 respectively which may be of Celluloid, plastic, or other light weight material, and which are attached permanently to an annular weighted ring 6 of steel or other material and located between the peripheral portions of the top and bottom walls 4 and 5.

The ring 6 is weighted to impart a fast rotating action to the spinner, which is mounted upon a vertical post 7 that extends through openings in the top and bottom walls 4 and 5 of the spinner, also through a bottom support 8 which may be of rubber or metal, a convex washer 9 located between the supporting block 8 and the bottom plate S of the spinner, and a convex washer 11 located between the top plate 4 of the spinner and the top 3 of the housing. 12 and 13 designate heads or stops soldered or otherwise attached to the ends of the arbor 7, exteriorly of the top wall 3 and bottom wall 1 of the housing and acting to hold the arbor 7 securely in place. The spinner extends through oneside wall of the housing and is accessible at that point for spinning it in either direction by applying the thumb to one edge of the spinner, and in order to impart the required delicate braking action with minimum resistance and friction there is provided the construction which will now be described.

The bottom plate 5 of the spinner is provided with a series of circularly arranged preferably circular openings 14 which are approximately V16 in diameter, extending entirely through the plate 5 and spaced slightly from each other, preferably such a distance that the spring stop after leaving one opening rides over the intervening edge and moves into the next succeeding opening almost instantaneously, while imposing a minimum of resistance to the movement of the spinner, and permitting an extremely free and easy running movement of the spinner.

In order to accomplish this, there is provided a spring of extremely light spring wire and of generally semicircularly curved formation from one end to the other. The two ends of the spring, indicated at 15 and 16, are anchored or secured in rubber blocks 17 and 18 respectively, attached to the housing at the front corners thereof as shown, and the spring extends from said attachment points thence rearwardly of the housing to the opposite side of the spinner and upwardly toward the bottom plate 5, see Fig. 3. The spring extends in a curved path beneath the openings 14 in the bottom plate of the spinner at the central portion of the spring, and is there provided with an upwardly extending inverted V- shaped stop portion 19 that projects upwardly through an opening 14 of the bottom plate of the spinner, to a point somewhat above the top surface of the bottom plate. The sides of the inverted V-shaped stop portion 19 engage the adjacent edges surrounding the opening 14 and are disposed centrally of said opening. The central stop portion 19 of the spring is located centrally between the ends of the spring, and the ends being xed to the anchor blocks 17 and 18 serve to hold the stop portion 19 at all times centrally of the opening that receives the stop portion at any given instant as the spinner rotates. The spring eventually brings the spinner to :a :standstill 4and `retains `it .fin a z,definite location where it remains until another spinning :movement -is imparted. Y

As a result of this arrangement .and -the -constnuction of the spinner, -considerablerotating .motion `is imparted to the spinner, with :little alfort, wvhile ,the .braking action imposed by the spring and stop portion is extremely delicate .and .accurately positioned, and tsucient to :stop the spinner in a denite location and retain tit .in suoh position, preparatory rto va gseoond spinning operation.

While the invention has been described in relation -to the Iparticular :structure tdisolosed, it is not Yoonined to the details herein seti-forth, and this application yis :intended to .cover such vmoditcations `or departures as may come .within the purposes :of the improvement and .the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

A game adevice .comprising a :housing including top, bottom and side walls, .one of the yside walls rhaving an opening therein, a spinner rotatably mounted :between .the .top .and bottom wallsfand projecting ,partially Vthrough said opening, said spinner consisting of circular top and bottom plates and a Weighted annular element secured between the top and bottom plates at the outer portions thereof, said bottom platehaving a multiplicity of circularly arranged openings spaced slightly from each other and located inwardly from the outer edge of said plate, rubber blocks secured in the housing on opposite sides of said opening, and a generally semicircular wire spring having Vits ends anchored in said rubber blocks, the spring extending thence rearwardly and upwardly to a central portion that is lin general 'alignment with the opening in the rbottom plate immediately above the central portion of the spring, and terminating at the center in an upwardly `projecting angular portion that extends through the opening in the plate immediately thereabove and engages the portions of the plate 0n opposite sides of the opening.

Banner July 1'8, 1939 Pattyn Oct. 11, 195'5 

